Monday, April 09, 2007

Securing America's Borders?

Having failed at just about everything else, President Bush has made a speech championing border security. With a 38 percent approval rating and an unpopular war, Bush has decided to take a hard line on illegal immigration. I'm afraid this is a case of too little, too late. Not to mention that I disagree with his belief that somehow border patrol agents will do a sufficient job.

A Democratic-controlled Congress will not go along with any plan that Bush offers.

The problem is that there's no way to secure America's borders. It has been stated long before that it would take conscription to secure our borders. The only way to really stop immigrants from moving across the border is to punish employers who employ illegal immigrants. If we were really serious about illegal immigration--if we saw it as that much of a threat, then we'd cut tax breaks and punish, financially, those companies who willingly employ illegals. That's it. That's the only way.

Anything and everything else is just empty rhetoric.

And Bush talks about assimilation. The problem with that is that assimilation is a process that takes time. It wasn't 100 years ago that an Irish male would never consider marrying a German female. Now it doesn't matter.

It is my opinion that with time, the next generation or so, that Hispanic immigrants will assimilate into society. They have proven thus far that they want to remain surrounded by their own people, but I think with time, so-called assimilation will occur.

We want quick fixes in this country, but we must wait and be patient. And in this society, which is based more and more on instant gratification, it may be a challenge.

1 comment:

Cee Jay said...

I totally agree with you. There is no way to prevent illegal immigration without dealing with the fact that most of the world's workers are paid less than a living wage and there are those in this country who enjoy gluttonous consumption at the expense of the suffering of others.